Hidden Monsters (Volkov Bratva #4)(114)

As they ventured closer to Celt—one mercenary Luka actually did know—he felt a chill run down his spine at the sheer amount of bodies around the place. He had never doubted the efficiency in which Klaus worked, but seeing it up close and personal, especially with how calm everyone was, was kind of terrifying to witness.

Fatos was on his knees, his lip split, his eye swelling rapidly. And even after all he had done, he still looked at Luka with reverence in his eyes.

Celt took a step back, his gaze flickering from Luka to Klaus. “Your call.”

The girl stepped out from under Luka, moving away so that she was out of range, but more surprising, Klaus moved too, but Luka knew this needed to happen. After all they had taken from him, it was no surprise that he wanted Fatos dead. He had told him as much when he’d first suspected that he was in New York.

But, this time he wouldn’t stand in the way. If Klaus wanted him dead, it was only a matter of time…

Someone place a gun in Luka’s hand and the sight of it did nothing to change the way he felt inside. He couldn’t help but look at Klaus, the question clear in his eyes. He merely nodded, not offering an answer, but Luka could guess.

This was for him as much as it was for Klaus.

As he looked over at his former friend, someone he had known for far too long, he finally began to feel something other than the emptiness that had taken hold of him since he’d been here.

Staring down at him, Luka didn’t doubt the bond between them, one that probably could never be broken, even in death. He knew that Fatos cared about him in his own way and had always wanted his love and approval. But Luka had learned the hard way that Fatos was a bit obsessive, and no matter what Luka did, it wasn’t enough.

Luka should have put him down years ago before it had come to this, but in a way, Luka had loved him too much to see his life ended.

“You won’t do it,” Fatos taunted from his position on the ground. “You never could.”

But that was the thing about love. While it could never completely disappear, his love for someone else gave him the strength to do what he should have a long time ago.

“You shouldn’t have come for me,” Luka said beneath his breath. “And you should have never touched her.”

Fatos was losing his smile, aware that there was something different about this time than the last. Before Luka could talk himself out of this, and before Fatos could plead for mercy that he wouldn’t get, Luka pulled the trigger.

Only once, but it was enough, the bullet ripping through the middle of his forehead, leaving him slumped in the dirt, his eyes still open, his mouth frozen in a semi-smile.

A life of sordid hell, all over within seconds.

Luka dropped the gun, almost like the weight of it was too much for him. He swayed on his feet as what little energy he had left drained away. The last thing he had seen before unconsciousness took him was Klaus reaching to break his fall.

____

Klaus took a swig of his beer, gaze still trained on the bed where the giant lump had yet to move since he’d been deposited there several hours ago. They had worked Luka over pretty well, and from the look of him—from the top of his shaved head to the bottom of his dirty feet—he hadn’t had a decent meal in all that time. He was noticeably thinner, and he looked like he was circling the drain.

All the times Klaus had seen him, he’d always looked so hardened, the killing machine that he’d been turned into. But now, Klaus was seeing him at his lowest, or at least he had. He didn’t think he would ever be able to get the image of Luka ready to slash his own wrists out of his head. Remembering that, how he’d had to physically stop him from doing it…that was one thing he wished he could forget.

Groaning, Luka came awake slowly, then all at once as he shot upright. He immediately regretted the decision as he touched a hand to his side, feeling the bandages that had been wrapped around his torso.

“At least tell me we made it out of the f*cking country,” he grumbled, turning bloodshot, watery eyes to Klaus.

Nodding, Klaus said, “We did.”

“And Fatos…he’s really dead.”

“Burned his body just to be sure.”

Luka lay back, his eyes already drifting closed again. “Must’ve been nice.”

Klaus smirked. “Take it easy. Get some sleep. You probably need it.”

But he had already passed out again.





48

____





Goodbye





Pain was the one thing, the one physical entity that Luka could count on.

Despite waking up in a bed of soft down, the agony throughout his entire body was so great that it didn’t matter the comfort. Disoriented, he tried to get his bearings, turning over as carefully as possible. His arm went around his torso so he could feel the bandages wrapped tightly around his ribs.

Luka didn’t have the luxury of not remembering his time with Fatos and the others. He remembered the torture, every single time Fatos entered that room, his ensuing rescue, and even putting a bullet in Fatos’ forehead. But everything after that was a blur.

Looking around the barren space, there was only the bed he was on, a small table to his right that held a couple of bottles of unopened water and another that was empty. It reminded him of his own home…at least before Alex had turned it into something worth living in.